Toast

Toast builds a cloud-based restaurant point of sale and management platform used by restaurants and bars across the United States. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and maintains operations in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Canada. It listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2021 under the ticker TOST and has become a significant player in the restaurant technology industry.

The platform spans several products relevant to those working at the intersection of engineering and marketing. Online Ordering provides ordering tools built specifically for restaurants and food service businesses, while Guest Engagement covers customer-facing engagement tools for the food service and hospitality industry. Both sit alongside Toast POS, an all-in-one system built on the Android operating system that combines restaurant-grade hardware with cloud software, and Employee Management, which includes labour optimisation features. Technical work spans cloud software, Android, purpose-built hardware, AI and automation, digital ordering, and labour optimisation.

Toast describes its mission as helping restaurants operate, increase sales, engage guests and retain employees, pairing industry expertise with technology. The company treats AI and automation as a means of unlocking the creative and strategic capacity of teams, and positions its platform for enterprise restaurant brands seeking gains in speed of service, labour optimisation and digital growth.